Connor replied, “You just block for me.” As the boys broke the huddle, Connor walked with Matthew to his spot on the line and said, “Don’t you dare drop this ball.” Matthew grinned at his brother and flashed him a thumbs up.
Connor leaned down and placed his hands between the center’s legs to receive the oddly shaped football. He barked out the same calls that he had heard Trey use a few minutes before. Connor pulled back from the offensive line and squeezed the oblong football in his right hand. The football was easier to hold than a beamball, so it should be easier to throw.
Three rather large upper classmen were bearing down on him. It seemed the offensive line hadn’t done a very good job blocking for Connor. Now half of the defensive line was about to pile-drive him into the ground.
Connor wasn’t fazed, as he spun out of the clutches of the first defender, darted to the right to avoid the second, and stiff-armed the third to the ground. He dashed to the right side of the field and spotted his brother. Matthew had reached the point in his route where he broke off to the center of the field. Connor reared back and unleashed the football. Coach Dane marveled at the young boy’s arm strength as he watched Matthew coral the ball into his arms, right in stride. “Run it again,” yelled the coach.
The team ran back to the line and started another play. This time a few of the offensive linemen actually blocked for Connor. Connor dropped back and saw an opening to number eighty-one and fired the ball on a rope right into his hands. Coach Dane yelled out, “Run it again!” Again, the team ran to the line and Connor fired another strike, this time to the tight end.
This played out ten more cycles, with a similar result each time. Coach Dane called the boys back over to the sideline. “Well, boys, that was one the best displays of football skill that I have seen on this field in quite some time.”
Connor thanked the coach and asked the obvious question. “So, are we on the team?”
“On the team? You want to know if you made the team? Of course you made the team!”
He went on to explain that if Connor and Matthew knew the playbook, they would both be starting next week. “You can’t officially start joining us for practices until next week, so just start learning the playbook for the rest of the week and we’ll see you on the practice field starting next Monday.”
The news of the coach’s excitement didn’t sit well with Trey Wilson.
“Coach, are you out of your mind? You wanna start these two sophomores over me?” Trey continued his tirade as the coach made his way to the locker room. “I’m a third-year starter and I made the All District team last year.”
Coach put his arm around his star quarterback and explained, “Look, son, you’re a good quarterback, but that boy has the best arm I have ever seen on a high school kid. You’ll be the starting quarterback until we can get Connor up to speed on our playbook and then I’ll move you to linebacker. It’s about the team, son, and no one player is bigger than the team.”
The coach left the practice field and headed back to his office. Trey made his way back to the field where he ran into his cohorts Austin and Rick. “Come here, guys, I need to talk to you about something.”
On the other end of the field, Matthew and Connor headed to the fence to see how Amanda had reacted to their amazing play. Before they made it there, Matthew was stopped by Cassie and Jack. “That was unbelievable. How did you guys do that?”
Jack added, “Yeah, you took some pretty bad shots and got up like it was nothing.”
Matthew responded, “Well, Connor and I have played back home for a while, so we’re used to the pressure of the game.”
Connor was already making his way toward the group of cheerleaders at the end of the fence line and Matthew attempted to do the same, but Cassie had other plans.
“So Matthew, you know there is a back-to-school dance on Friday night, right?”
Matthew had never heard of a dance, so he replied, “A dance—really? I didn’t know that.”
Cassie continued, “Yeah, I mean, I don’t mean it like a date, but since you are new and all.”
Matthew looked to Jack for assistance. Jack was no help. In fact, he just made fun of the whole thing. “Good grief, Cassie, you sound like one of those desperate girls from Advanced Chemistry.”
Matthew wasn’t sure how he should handle himself and replied, “Well, I think a dance would be a lot of fun, but I should probably see what Connor’s planning on doing first. I may end up going with him.”
Jack snickered and said, “You’re going to the dance with your brother? That’s worse than me going with my sister, which it looks like I’ll be doing again this year.”
Matthew was embarrassed and looked past Cassie to see that Connor had once again run off. He didn’t see Amanda either. Jack saw that Matthew was searching around and offered his help. “Are you looking for your brother?”
Matthew said, “Yeah, do you know where he went?”
Cassie was disappointed in the response from Matthew and moved her line of sight from Matthew’s feet to his eyes. For some reason his eyes made her feel all warm and tingly inside.
She hid her disappointment and disclosed that Connor had walked around the side of the building with Amanda and her friend. “I think her name is Beth,” added Jack.
Cassie poked Jack in the side and said, “Yeah, Jack has a crush on Beth; she is sooooo cute.”
Jack fired back, “I don’t think you of all people should be making fun of me for enjoying the looks of someone of the opposite sex.”
Jack went on to explain that it was simple biology and pheromones. “We learned it in Biology. Even the two of us, with our obvious mental gifts and keen insight into the vast knowledge of the universe, can turn into piles of mush when confronted with a tight sweater or excesses of perfectly placed makeup.”
Matthew backed up and pondered what he had just heard. “I have to say, Jack, you don’t sound like a freshman when you talk.”
Jack replied, “I know; I’m gifted.”
Cassie added, “Yeah, our mom had us tested.”
Matthew turned his attention back to tracking down Connor. Before he left, Cassie asked him, “You’re not going to become one of those jerks are you? I mean you seem like a nice guy, so don’t let those guys turn you into a jerk.”
Matthew smiled at the awkward girl and replied, “I promise that I won’t become a jerk if you promise to help me with my Chemistry homework.”
She grabbed Matthew’s hand and shook it. “You’ve got a deal.” He pulled his hand away and ran off toward the side of the building.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw a truck pull out of the parking lot. On the steps that led to the side door of the gymnasium, he saw Amanda Curry and her friend leaned over and huddled around something. Matthew attempted to be clever and walked up behind the girls. “So, what’s so interesting? Can I see too?”
The girls parted and revealed what they were so concerned about on the step. There was Connor, cut, bleeding, and curled up on the steps of the school. Matthew bent down to check on his brother and asked, “What happened? Who did this?”
Amanda Curry started to speak up and was stopped by her friend. “You don’t want to get him in trouble. He might get kicked off the team.”
Amanda stepped up and said, “That ass should get kicked off of the team.”
Matthew’s face began to turn red and his fists clenched. He turned to Amanda Curry and asked, “It was Trey and his band of idiots, wasn’t it?”
Amanda was embarrassed by the actions of her boyfriend and lowered her head. She admitted that it was Trey. “I was just talking to Connor and they came up from behind him and knocked him down. Rick and Austin held him while Trey kicked and punched him.”
Beth added, “We tried to stop them, but they’re just too big and we didn’t want to get them into any trouble.”
&n
bsp; “Did I get hit by a car or somethin’?” Connor was coming to and could recognize the shape of his brother standing over him.
“Are you OK?” Connor stood up with the help of Matthew and told the group that it would take more than three morons to keep him down.
Matthew saw that Connor’s cuts were beginning to heal and his bruises were already lightening up. Luckily for Connor, the health charm of the Hathmec was quickly healing him of his wounds, but unluckily for the boys, they didn’t want Amanda or Beth to see it.
“I really need to get Connor home. I’m sure our mom can clean him up.”
April Chance walked around the corner of the building, looking for the football field. “There you are! I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” April caught the first glimpse of Connor’s swollen face and the blood that had stained his football uniform. “Oh my goodness, what happened? Did he get hurt at practice?”
The boys had told their mother the night before that they would attempt to make the football team. April had no idea that Connor had been beaten up by Amanda Curry’s boyfriend. Matthew responded to his mother, “He’ll be all right, Mom; we just need to get him home.”
Amanda rushed up to Connor and implored, “You need to go to the hospital. They probably broke your ribs or your nose.” Connor started to regain his senses and his strength and reassured Amanda that he would be fine.
Matthew closed the door to the car and made a request of the two girls. “Don’t let anyone know what happened here.”
Connor rolled down the window and reminded the pretty cheerleader with the flowing blond hair, “So Amanda, you never answered me.”
Amanda leaned into the window and said, “Yes, I’ll go with you to the dance.” A smile came to Connor’s bruised, yet healing face.
Matthew, confused, asked, “He asked you to the dance? I thought you were with Trey.”
“I was, but he’s obviously not the kind of guy that I need to be dating, so I’m going with your brother.”
“Come on, Matthew, we need to go!” exclaimed April. Matthew climbed into the front seat of the car and the Chance family rode off from the school’s parking lot.
“You got a date with Amanda Curry; that’s great!”
Connor replied, “Yeah, all it took was for me to get my butt kicked to convince her that Trey is a jerk and I am less of a jerk.”
April was confused and said, “OK, so I’m assuming that you both made the team, but I’m still a little fuzzy on why Connor is getting blood all over the car.”
Matthew went through the whole day’s events, just as he had done the night before with his mother. It was going to become a ritual of the Chance family to review all of the day’s events and determine a strategy for the next. “We need to figure out a way to make Connor look like he’s still bruised and battered. The health charm works fast.” By the time the family made it to their mobile home, Connor was almost healed from the beating he had taken from Trey and his friends.
Connor asked, “So what do we do now?”
Matthew replied, “Well, since we are supposed to be going to a dance on Friday night, we may want to try to figure out what happens at a dance.”
April interrupted, “Don’t worry about the dance, boys. I will do some research here in town and I’ll get you ready for it.”
April had spent the last two days around the town, finding out as much as she could about the Curry family. So far, she had learned where they live and what business they were in, and she picked up some information on Amanda’s normal routine. “Come straight home after school tomorrow and we’ll work on the dance situation.”
Matthew announced that they would walk home after school. “I think it’s considered un-cool to have your mom pick you up in the afternoons.” April agreed and the next day’s plans were set. The boys would avoid Trey and his friends as much as possible. Connor would continue to get close to Amanda Curry, and Matthew would get the lowdown on school dances from their new friends, Cassie and Jack Jenkins.
As the boys walked home on Wednesday afternoon, they had determined one very important fact. Two freshman geniuses were not the proper resource to find out what happens at a school dance. Based on their description, you would sit in a corner all night, watch all the other kids dance and have fun, drink punch, and try to avoid awkward situations. While that all sounded less than appealing to the boys, the image of one of them pulled close to one Miss Amanda Curry while some slow sappy music played in the background had some definite appeal.
“Don’t worry, Matthew, I got you a date too,” confided Connor. “Do you remember Amanda’s friend who was out back while I was getting my butt kicked yesterday?”
Matthew replied, “Her name is Beth, right?”
“Yeah. I talked Amanda into getting you a pity date with her, since she’s still mad at Austin. I think Amanda said, ‘What’s the worst that could happen?’ Beth agreed.”
Matthew rolled his eyes and said, “Gee, thanks, just what I need, a pity date. I could have gone with Cassie and had someone to talk to.”
Connor stopped his brother on the side of the road and lectured him about student cliques at the school. “Look, I think Cassie and Jack are nice and all, but we have a job to do, and that means getting in good with the popular kids. We can be friends with the Jenkins, but we need to keep it quiet. Based on what I’ve seen, we are now football players and we date cheerleaders. Friday night, I get to spend the whole evening with Amanda Curry. Considering she’s the one that has our charm around her neck, I think that’s a good thing.”
Matthew agreed but also threw in his own thoughts. “I agree that we have to get in with her group, but I think the only way that we are ever going to get her to give up her necklace is to find out who she really is. I just can’t believe that all there is to this girl is a cheerleading uniform and a pretty face.”
Connor replied, “Regardless of that, Amanda and Beth are going to meet us at the gym after the football game.”
The boys walked into the house and saw that April had moved all of the furniture in their living room to the bedrooms. “What are you doing?”
April explained that she had spent all morning at a local record store, where they sold music. She talked to the shop owner and bought up several records that she could use to teach the boys how to dance. “Look, I even bought a nice record player from the store.” She explained that she spent enough money on the records, so the player was a steal at fifteen dollars.
Connor interjected, “So you bought a bunch of music records and a record player. How does that teach us how to dance?”
April grinned and placed the first record on the player. It started up and a fast-paced, energetic song poured from the speakers.
“This nice young man at the record store introduced me to a television station where all they do is play music and show what they call music videos with people dancing in them. It’s really a good idea; I bet that station can keep going on forever.” She explained that she watched fifteen music videos in a row and was totally confident that she could show the boys what she learned.
“Now back up boys, this can get a bit crazy looking, but I guarantee that you’ll fit right in at the dance.” April bounced up and down and swayed her arms in the air. She stepped toward the boys and said, “One, two, one, two, three.” She jumped to the left and jumped to the right.
The boys watched their mother careen all over the living room. She stopped and pivoted around one foot. She continued what some would describe as uncontrolled convulsions, and told the boys, “I must have been pretty good at the shop, because several people stopped by the window to see what I was doing.”
“By the way, I called the school this morning to see what else I could find out about the dance, and I was offered a chaperoning job for Friday night.”
The boys looked at each other with confused eyes and asked, “So y
ou’ll be at the dance, too?”
April replied, “I sure will. I may even have to hit the floor with these dance moves myself.” She stopped for a moment and stared down her two sons. “Don’t just stand there; get to dancing! We have to get you two into shape before Friday night.”
For the next four hours, Matthew, Connor, and April jumped and sprayed themselves all over their home in the middle of Travis, Tennessee. An onlooker would have called the police or an ambulance based on their movements. It was a combination of fighting maneuvers and a seizure. Regardless of the outcome, it was still a night of fun, laughter, and, for the first time, family togetherness.
Chapter 11
girls and gadgets
“I don’t get these things. They look like the rings Amanda wears to school.” Matthew read the instructions sent along by Walter while Connor asked more questions. “So, you’re saying that these things will amplify anything?”
“Just shut up and listen to the instructions,” replied Matthew.
The boys had discovered several “gadgets,” as Walter had put it. They had sneaked into April’s room and removed the bag, with the goodies, from under her bed. Any of the items could come in handy against an onslaught of football players. Both of the boys had been warned, earlier in the day, that Trey had shot his mouth off about them. He said, “Both of ‘em are gonna get a butt kickin’ if that Connor shows up to the dance with my Amanda.”
Connor had convinced everyone that he was still hurt due to the beating he received from Trey on Tuesday. April used shoe polish to bruise Connor’s face each morning, and he acted the part of a recovering patient quite well. He got a hug from Amanda after he struggled to lift his bag on Thursday.
Matthew continued pulling items from the backpack and started asking questions of his own. “Jack and Cassie told me that the only reason Trey hasn’t ripped your head off already is because he’s scared they might suspend him for the game tonight.”
Last Chance Page 15